Skip to main content

Proceeding contribution from Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat) in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 25 October 2006. It occurred during Ministerial statement on Energy: Radioactive Waste Management.


Energy: Radioactive Waste Management

My Lords, I have two questions. My first question relates to devolved Administrations. I am not clear what the position would be if it proved impossible to find a geological site in Scotland or Wales but one was found in England, or vice versa. Would the waste from one part of the United Kingdom go to the other part which had accepted it, or is it intended that there will be self-containment, as it were, within each of the units of the United Kingdom? Secondly, like other noble Lords, I am fascinated by the idea that we are not seeking to impose radioactive waste on any community. That is made very clear in the Statement. To discover what the Government mean by ““community”” I looked inthe report, but all it has, on page 13, is a list of all the fairly obvious and interesting questions. It may be unrealistic but let us assume that support could be found to revisit the proposal for a site in west Cumbria. What is a community? What would happen if the parish councils were against the proposal—and perhaps parish polls voted against it—but the district council could be bribed to be in favour of it; if the National Park Authority and the county council were against it, but the North West Regional Assembly voted in favour of it? What do the Government mean by ““community”” in this sense?


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
685 c1218-9 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Radioactive waste Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Storage Waste management United Kingdom NIREX Waste disposal Committee on Radioactive Waste Management Geology
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk